I have a bad back - should I even consider buying a mill someday??

[backwoods sawyer]

Rollers, lots of rollers, saves picking the wood up carring it, power rollers will save on on pulling as well, a remote mill or a mill with a seat can minimize standing.

[Old Hilly]

When I moved out to the country there were lots of mills around here and I got friendly with a couple of the owners. One thing that they both told me time and time again was "Don't carry timber, slide it!". When I watched the process of getting a log from the log-yard and turning it into sawn timber "scantlings" I noticed that there was no real carrying of the timber. Heavy flitches were moved on trolleys to the saw bench, then on a trolley to take the weight as the flitch went through the saw. There was a similat trolley on the "out" end of the saw bench that would support the heavy section of timber while the sawn piece was flipped over to the docking bench. From the docker it went down a slide to the yardman who slid the piece to whichever stack it was needed in. The yardman did the most walking but carried very little weight, all the timber just slid along until it got to the stack it was suposed to be in.
When my neighbour and I get our bandmill finished and start cutting Paulownia, the shed will be set up the same way.....Minimal lifting but lots of sliding on either rollers or slippery plastic stuff.
Oh yeah, have had a crook back for 40 years, just had to work out how to make life less complicated. One of my old "Leading Hands" in the gang that I worked in for a while used to say...."Always have one lazy bloke in your gang because he will work out the easiest way to do something".
I still rekon old "Jacko" was pretty well "spot-on"!
Good luck with your mill. Just think "lazy".
Dennis.

[bandmiller2]

You want to saw smart,when ever their is an operation that stresses your back stop and figure a way to negate it.As mentioned heavy slabs are A prime suspect make two slab cuts insted of one,lift one end at a time and let them slide down an incline.Very important to have your mill elivated so your not bending over.Rather than a new manual mill find a used hydraulic,let the oil do the heavy lifting. Frank C.

[Norm]

Sigidi has some very good advice, my back was so bad I thought I'd never be without pain but aerobic exercise with 10 minutes of abs work really helps. Start slow and over months time work your way up to that 10 minutes. I also walk weather permitting 2 miles a day and during the winter when I can't really feel the difference.

A hydraulic mill with roller boards and some help you'll be fine. Jay will be a great offbearer and you never know maybe April will like helping. 

[SwampDonkey]

I have a touch of muscle pain in the lower back at times, it's definitely not in the bone. It is best dealt with (in my case) by exercise and movement. A good walk does wonders if I'm a little sore.

[Chuck White]

I would suggest a hydraulic mill, an operators seat & a minimum of 1 helper!

It doesn't take brawn to operate a sawmill, but you would need it if you did the bull-work on the other side!

[Busy Beaver Lumber]

Warbird

I have had two spinal fusions with metal plates and three other disks operated on in my neck and upper back due to two major automobile accidents, one where I got tail ended 30 years ago by a tractor trailer and one 6 years ago when I got tail ended by a bus. In addition to the spinal surgeries, I have also had 2 shoulder surgeries to my left shoulder and only have about 30% use of my left arm and about 25% use of my left hand. About twice a week, my left hand will cramp up so bad that I can not move my fingers or straighten them out. When it happens, it is incredibly painful and feels like someone stabbed me in the hand with a knife, and then gave the blade a twist for good measure.

Ok, that is the bad news. The good news is I own and operate a LT-10 and absolutely love the mill and truly enjoy using it. Like many have said, I have gotten creative over the years in finding ways to lift and move heavier loads using other pieces of equipment and techniques.

In addition to this, my wife and I own a firewood bundling business and this year we are under contract already to deliver over 25,000 bundles of wood. By coincidence, we are just starting to bundle for the 2011 season tomorrow morning and hope to do 500 bundles tomorrow. 500 bundles is basically equivalent to 3 cords of wood. It is a lot of lifting and bending, but to tell you the truth, although I can feel a bit sore on any given day that we bundle or deliver the wood, in general I find that I feel better and have more overall flexibility in my entire body during the 8 months a year that we bundle and cut wood versus the 4 months that we do not, and I can not wait to get back to doing it in the spring. I also find that it helps to decrease the number of times my left hand cramps up. If I bundle for 4 or 5 days in a row, the first day the hand will give me some problems, but then the other 3 or 4 days are usually pretty much pain and cramp free.

My 2 cents for what it is worth based on my own personal experience

[terrifictimbersllc]

What Jeff said.  If you really want one don't let your back stop you.  Probably not get a swing mill because there's more physical demand with the mill and moving the lumber.  But with my fully hydraulic band saw the main places my back hurts is jacking up the outriggers (maybe use an auxiliary car jack when needed) and carrying away the board return table.  I can mill a whole very productive day when the customers do all the heavy work.  If you're thoughtful and methodical and carry jacks and always use power or leverage options, you might not ever strain your back.  But when you get in a jam hurrying around or whatever trying to get out of some situation that's when you might drop caution and hurt yourself.  If you always remember not to strain your back then you probably wont strain your back. 

[Whitetail_Addict]

Buy a mill.  I think I can sympathize with the "bad back" like many others who have responded to this post.  I have a broken vertebrae just above my tail bone that has long since healed on its own.  I have a torn disc between L5-L4 and four herniated discs in my thoracic spine.  I have pain every minute of every day.  Often times the physical pain wears on my mood and causes mental pain because I worry about things I may soon not be able to do (I'm 33 years old).  I purchased my WoodMizer LT28 almost a year ago and absolutely love sawing.  It's a manual mill that requires a lot of physical input.     However by choosing a mill with a log deck near waist height it keeps me from having to bend over to pick up boards.  Big plus!  I have a John Deere tractor with FEL and a set of forks that does all my heavy lifting.  I can't wait for this snow to FINALLY melt so that I can get the mill up on the hill and tear into some logs.  Like you I had been eyeing sawmills for quite some time before finally taking the plunge.  Now most of my weekends and some evenings during the week are dedicated to sawing.  Do what you can to live life without regrets... even if it hurts a little along the way.

[Magicman]

I'm into my 10th year sawing and have never sawed without back trouble.  I always wear a weightlifters belt and it's shown in many posted pictures of me.
 


Helping on a mission trip.
 


What I wear.
 


It is for support and is no substitute for proper exercise and muscle warmup.

[thecfarm]

I would buy one for sure.Jay will be old enough SOMEDAY to pull slabs and boards.    Start them out young.